


Subtle Deviations

by Einozuka



Category: Total Drama
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-04-24 17:39:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4928971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Einozuka/pseuds/Einozuka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens between the campers when the cameras aren't on? Why do they act how they do? And what happens when just a few details are tweaked?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~`Scene change  
> ***************** Confessional Start/End

Getting put on a boat and driven to some unknown island normally fills a person with some mixture of excitement and fear. Getting trapped on a reality TV show with 21 strangers and unknown supervision brought jitters, followed by the looming 283 page contract with 74 different locations to sign. Granted, almost every contestant ignored the print and just signed away with the dream of $100,00 in their mind. Everyone was pumped.

Everyone but Noah. Having actually _read_ the contract, Noah already knew they'd be going to a campground- despite having been told of the five star resort before hand. That alone gave him a leg up in the competition.

Ruffling through his bag one last time, Noah mumbles out his checklist. "Bug spray, shake-charge flashlight, matches, solar charger, cable bag, electronics bag, journal, pencils and sharpener, books, clothes… am I missing anything?" He smacks his forehead. "My Meds."

He digs through his bags and suitcase looking but finds nothing. "Hell," Noah curses under a huff. He takes a calming breath, "I'll be fine as long as the host knows."

The ship honks its horn, signaling his arrival. Deep breath… and go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Climbing out of the boat in time to watch the blond girl swing her board around and nearly smack a few of the other teens, Noah rolls his eyes at them. Regardless, he starts walking down the dock at the introduction of his name.

"You got my memo about my 'life threatening allergies'?" he asks the host, referring to his medication. He continues walking even without a response.

"Sure somebody did!" The host responds perkily, waving the issue.

"Good." He stops and points to the cabins in rattier shape than even he expected, "Is this where we're staying?"

"No," responds the punk with the green Mohawk. "It's your mother's house…" he cracks his knuckles threateningly, a taunting smile on his face, "And we're throwing a party!"

"Cute," Noah responds, lacking any genuine interest. "Nice piercings, Original, didja do them yourself?"

The green haired teen smirks and grabs Noah's lower lip, producing a needle from seemingly nowhere. "Why? You want one?"

"Uh… no thanks. Can I have my lip back please?" The punk releases his lip and puts the needle away. Covered in sarcasm he adds, "Thanks."

A pounding beat and rhythmic clapping catches both of their attention, drawing it towards the newest arriving player. Noah rolls his eyes, but stands to the side to start watching the remaining teens arrive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cruising along on another boat, Cody leans back onto the wall, flipping through a magazine. Unlike other contestants, Cody didn't actually have any luggage to carry out with him. He'd left for his trip from his father's house, but his mother sent his clothes and necessities. He'd been assured they'd be in his room when he finally arrived.

Of course, his more pressing concern bothers him even now. The last thing he wants is for anyone to figure him out despite his precautions; the _Busty Babes_ cover over his _Guys Guys Guys_ issue for example.

The hatch to his compartment creaks open, surprising Cody, who immediately stuffs the magazine into one of his deceptively deep pockets. A quick sigh of relief, he climbs to his feet, and starts to compose himself.

A mask of pseudo-lady's man and rejection. Better than the alternative.

*****************************

"My first confessional…" Cody states awkwardly, tapping on his chin. "Well I guess the first thing I should admit is that I hate having to pretend to be something I'm not." He sighs with a shrug, "But some secrets are just meant to be kept."

******************************

Cody hops off the boat and onto the dock, to be quickly greeted by the host.

"Cody! The Codester!" They both "shoot" grins at each other. "The Codemister!"

He high fives the host, then lazily strolls to the others. "Duuuude," he says, trying to act as cool as possible. "Psyched to be here, man." He walks past a trio of girls and forced flirtatiously adds, "I see the ladies have already arrived. Alright!"

He walks past the third girl, the curvy darker skinned one, and realizes he should say something flirty to help solidify his status. He leans over towards her and--

"Save it, short stuff." She cuts off, holding a finger to his face. He quickly retreats and stands between the tall teen with the guitar and the one in the read sweater-vest.

"It's okay man, you'll get one next time," the guitar guy assures, patting his shoulder.

"Just hope it's not her," the Indian boy remarks, pointing at the aggravated newcomer. Cody gulps at the thought.

The newest player, Eva, walks straight past Chris and places herself next to Cody. He holds out his hand to high-five her but she just drops her bag, crushing his food.

"Ow! What's in there!?" He asks, hopping on one foot to rub the other. "Dumbbells?"

"Yes." Cody gulps again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Minutes later, Justin arrives and all eyes lock onto him. He glides off the boat, a light hair flip, and joins Chris on the dock. The girls loose themselves in "romantic" thoughts, one even swoons herself to the floor. Cody looks around and notices the other guys staring affectionately at the hunk, even the darker boy who seems disinterested in everything.

"Just so you know," Chris says to Justin, "we picked you entirely based on your looks."

He shrugs. "I can deal with that."

************************

"And just like that, he'd lost all my respect and interest." Noah folds his arms in disgust. "His purpose is eye candy. I doubt he'll get far."

************************

Eva punches her hand then cracks her knuckles. "Anyone who says anything about how I reacted to Justin, I'll rearrange their face."

************************

"I'll admit," Cody states, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm kind of glad Owen got in the way."

************************

"There's more to me than just my looks," Justin claims, pulling out his mirror. "Is that a _blemish_!?" He runs his fingers across his cheek, anxiously checking before calming down. "No, no, I'm good." He turns back to the camera. "What was I saying?"

************************

The last competitor, a spunky ginger girl finally arrives and immediately slams her face into the edge of the dock. Courtney rushes over to help her up, despite the ginger's indifference about the accident. Noah feels a tapping on his arm and turns his attention to the source; the smaller boy with the gap tooth.

"Hi! I'm Cody!" He introduces.

"I know," comes the disinterested reply. "I watched you arrive."

"Oh, uh… I guess you did…" Cody responds, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "But I got here pretty late, so I didn't get your name. Or anyone's really…."

"I didn't arrive much earlier than you." The teen shrugs. Cody looks around, noticing the others moving. "Noah."

"Where's everyone going?"

"Don't you listen?" Eva growls. "The stupid host wants to take a stupid picture of us."

"Oh, okay."

Everyone gathers at the edge of the dock, posing for the photo. Noah just crosses his arms and shoots Chris a spiteful glare. Just then, the large guy grabs him and holds him close to his stomach. Completely bent over, he feels a weight on his butt, which makes him crack a rare smile.

Then the dock breaks and everyone falls into the rive, killing the bookworm's good mood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After getting the grand tour and being split into teams, Chris gives the campers half an hour to unpack and unwind before meeting up at the lodge.

Cody follows the gopher girls into their side of the cabin, quickly walking up to the gothic girl. "You're so smart," he compliments, "I feel that."

"Shouldn't you be on the boys' side?" She questions. He smiles at her, having actually _not_ realized that, until he's literally thrown out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Already busy unpacking, Noah takes one of the bottom bunks and begins his unpacking. Of course, he keeps a majority of his advantage items squirreled away in his bag, lest the others find out.

He notices an abandoned bag sitting on the bunk above him, a small case sitting next to it. He considers investigating it, but is otherwise distracted by the high pitched whine from outside. He and two other guys lean out the door to investigate.

"I'm GLAD we're all in our own cabin with just guys, know what I mean?" The large blonde comments, followed by a chuckle. Noah and the musician look at each other, unsure of how to interpret the statement. "I mean no!!" Noah disappears back into the room before anything got more awkward. "I loooooove chicks!!"

Trent walks away too, though that doesn't stop Owen from continuing. "I just don't want to sleep near them. Ahguahh I MEAN…!" Owen runs into the cabin but everyone's tuned him out.

Noah returns to the unknown bag, and starts rifling through it.

"Are you going through my things!?" asks one of the guys from the open doorway. Noah turns his head and sees an outraged Cody.

"Oh, this is yours?" Noah asks, indifferent as always. "It was just sitting here. I was looking for any kind of identification."

"Oh, so… you're not snooping?" Cody asks, cautious relief in his eyes.

"No."

Noah pulls his hands out of the bag and backs away with his hands up. Cody gives him a suspicious look before cracking into a large grin. The darker boy lifts a questioning eyebrow, which is ignored. He hops onto the bunk with his bag and flips back around to ask a question.

"Do you mind if I sleep on top of you?"

Noah lifts an eyebrow again and Cody blushes furiously.

*****************************

"I don't think I've ever embarrassed myself in front of anyone that quickly before in my life," Cody groans. He sighs, his face still bright pink from the incident.

****************************

"Woohoo!" Owen cheers. "I'm not the only one saying awkward things!" He throws both hands in the air in fists, then shakes the confessional with an ill timed fart.

***************************

"You're as bad as Owen," Noah notes.

"I'm just- I'm gunna stop talking." Noah smirks as Cody turns his attention back to his things.


	2. Taming the Bull

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to start off with two chapters entirely, so I did. /.\

The cliff diving and hot tub challenges flew by quickly, and Ezekiel was thrown from the island just the other day. With a day or two now free to relax the campers split off to do what they want with whomever.

Admittedly, Cody didn't see the the suitcase flying right at his face until it was too late. A growl from someone else follows as he knocks the luggage off of himself. Without having to search, he noticed the hole in one of the Bass cabin windows and Eva stomping into the woods.

Wanting to be a good person, Cody picks up the unusual projectile and walks over to the girls side door of the Bass cabin. Two knocks before the door swings open, greeted by an irritated Courtney.

"What do _you_ want?" she asks snidely.

"To return Eva's stuff," he answers, holding up the bag. "At least I'm pretty sure it's hers…."

Courtney merely groans in frustration, grabs the bag, and throws it into the room.

***************************

"Are _ALL_ the Bass girls aggressive?" Cody questions, a little panicked.

***************************

"Eva." Courtney crosses her arms and glares daggers at the camera. "I don't know what's up with her, but she has an enormous temper, and I don't like it." She points at herself with her thumb, "I shouldn't have to put up with this. _I_ was a C.I.T.!"

***************************

Bridgette groans, her eyes droopy and groggy. "Between Eva raging out and Courtney's passive aggressive jabs last night, I got no sleep." She hangs her head in exhaustion. "I don't think I can last eight weeks with these two."

**************************

Having done his good deed of the day, Cody flees- mostly out of fear of Courtney. On instinct he heads to the lodge to see who's doing what, and to look for someone to hang out with.

When he gets there, he sees the usual people in the usual locations. Heather sits at one of the tables, looking shifty as always. Near her, Beth sits on the table braiding Lindsay's hair while the blond talks about how hot Tyler is. At the other table Gwen chats with Leshawna, looking slightly peeved. Noah sits on the other end of the same table reading another one of his books, trying to ignore the voices and sounds of the others. Owen sits underneath the kitchen counter acting as a trash compactor for Chef, being the only one who can stomach the food and all.

Cody makes the quick decision to go sit by the nicer set of girls. He slides into the seat next to Gwen and starts to work his charms.

"Heeey ladies," he greets with a grin. "What are you beauties talking about?"

"Irritating male competitors," Gwen snaps.

Cody's smile falters, but he continues anyway. "If you want some company you can always talk to me."

Gwen groans, slamming her face onto the table.

****************************

"I know Cody _means_ well," Gwen huffs, sitting sideways in the confessional. "But he's _**really** _ annoying."

**************************

"That short stack needs to learn when to lay off," Leshawna sasses, rolling her eyes. "She ain't interested, and he needs to get that."

**************************

At the arrival of Cody, Noah left the lodge altogether. He could handle five girls and all the dramatic estrogen that comes with that; he could even handle Owen's vacuum-like stomach. Adding Cody to the mix, however, just barely crosses his sanity line.

As the newly arriving boy predictably sits next to Gwen, Noah snaps his book shut, stands up, and leaves.

He looks around outside for a quite place to read, but fails. Trent occupies the Gopher cabin playing his guitar, while all the other campers sit in various areas around the main campgrounds, preventing any peace. Even the roof of the Bass cabin is taken by Izzy and her antics. Seeing Bridgette napping by the beach was concerning, but the inseparable trio of Justin, Katie, and Sadie isn't something he plans on dealing with. 

Giving up, Noah just walks into the woods, looking for a nice clearing to just relax in. As he goes deeper, he hears grunting, and a solid thumping noise. As he grows closer, the thumping begins to sound rhythmic.

" _If someone said three years from now, you'd be looong gooone._ " Noah draws closer, hearing a soft voice singing. " _I'd stand up and punch them out._ " A loud thump echoes through the woods after the verse.

Noah follows the voice to a clearing, wide open and sunny, spotting Eva punching a tree.

" _Cause they're aaall wrong._ " The tree itself has a large chunk of missing bark, the spot Eva keeps punching. At its base, her beloved MP3 and a picture of someone. " _I know… better… cause you said for ever…_ " Eva stops punching to look at the picture. " _And ever. Who knew?_ "

Caught entirely off guard, Noah takes a retreating step back only to snap a twig. Eva quickly finds him, giving him a death-glare. Busted, Noah walks closer instead.

"You tell anyone about this," Eva cracks her knuckles. "You're dead."

Noah holds up his hands in surrender, "I don't intend to tell anyone." He hums, then muses, "I doubt anyone would believe me anyway."

"Good."

Silence awkwardly looms over the two of them. Noah breaks the silence first. "If you don't mind me asking," the Russian girl gives him a threatening look, but doesn't interrupt, "Who's the picture of?"

She sighs and looks over at the picture still resting at the base of the beaten tree. "It's my sister."

"You have--"

"Yes. I _have_ a little sister." Eva shouts, throwing her hands into the air. "Is that such a surprise!?"

"Not really," the bookworm responds, his fear of Eva's outbursts starting to fade. "I've just never heard you say anything about your family."

"Oh." Eva realizes, looking a bit abashed. "Yeah."

"What happened to them?" She shoots him a questioning look. "Your song."

Eva defensively crosses her arms and glares at Noah. He keeps his gaze on her, not backing down. A soft breeze blows through the clearing and kicks up a few leaves.

"Car crash." Eva holds her stance as she explains. "A few years ago my family got into a car crash. I lost my parents and my sister and I got hospitalized."

"Wow, I'm sor--"

" _ **NO**_!" Eva screams, abruptly shaking with rage. Her grip on her arms tighten until her hands turn white and she drops her stance. "DON'T YOU **DARE** PITY ME!" Eva punches the nearest tree, a large chunk flying off, leaving her knuckles bloody. "Ever since the accident everyone has treated my like I'm fragile. Weak." She punches the tree again with her other hand, making her offhand bleed too. "I'm not weak, and I don't. Need. Help."

Noah walks over to the tree Eva had originally been beating to put his book down. "I don't pity you." Eva looks over to him, her emotions mixed between sadness, anger, and surprise. "In case you hadn't noticed, empathy isn't really my thing." He shrugs. "Besides, you've shown your strength," he points out, finger pointing towards the tree she just cracked.

Eva folds her arms and collects herself back into her usual grump. "What about you? What makes you so cynic?"

"Oh the usual sob story," Noah says, shaking his head in distain. "I'm that super smart kid with eight older siblings and neglectful parents. Never had a friend in my life, regular visits to a psychiatrist, blah blah."

"Psychiatrist?"

"More clichés," he says flatly. "I get beaten up a lot and have depression. I take pills to mellow out my emotions."

"Bullied?" She repeats questioningly, a light growl.

"Yeah." He shrugs. "Not something I can really stop though."

"Wrong." She beckons him over. "Get over here."

"Why…?"

"I'm going to teach you some self defense."

…

"Why?" Noah asks again.

"Because I feel like it," Eva snaps. "Now get over here before I change my mind!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun's nearly set by the time they finish training, calling it quits after Eva shows Noah how to free himself when he's held against a locker (tree) by his shirt. They both shake off some of the sweat and walk over to where they piled their things.

"Nice job, Know-it-all, there's hope for you yet," Eva compliments with a smirk.

"Thaaanks," he replies with an eyeroll.

The two start walking down the path Eva took to the area.

"I never got to ask," Noah starts, pushing a branch out of his face, "What's with the Music Player? You're so protective of it."

"It's all I have left of my sister right now." Eva responds, subconsciously covering it protectively with her hand. "She loved to hear me sing, and this MP3 holds her favorite songs, so…"

"'Loved to'?" Noah asks, turning to face her.

"She's in a coma." Eva sighs. "When I win the prize, the money's going to get her better conditions in the hospital and a place for me to stay by her side until she wakes up."

"So you plan on singing to her," Noah concludes. "Your voice, her songs, in hopes of pulling her out of it."

"It's stupid, I know." Eva shakes her head bitterly. "The damn thing's dead anyway."

"Did you bring the charger?"

She glares at him. "Of course I brought the damn charger. I just can't charge it because the girls hog the outlets with their fru-fru girly things."

Noah stops walking, then rubs his chin in thought. He nods his head to himself and starts to dig around in his pocket. He pulls out a black device a little bigger than his middle finger and holds it out to her. She freezes in place.

"Are… are you serious!?" She asks, bewildered yet hopeful.

"Completely."

She hugs him. _**Eva** _ hugs him.

Noah's brain shuts down, but he continues talking on autopilot. "Should be able to fully charge your player two or three times. When it runs out just give it back and I'll recharge the charger for you."

"Thank you!" She squeezes the nerd, before finally setting him back down.

***************************

Noah gawks at the confessional camera. "I'll admit. I didn't expect to see this side of Eva, but it's kind of nice."

**************************

Eva sits with both hands out, her MP3 in one palm, the charger in the other, and a cable connecting them. "Noah's a smartass, scrawny know-it-all," she smiles fondly, "And he has my respect. He's the only one on this island that I don't hate."

***************************

"What. The. Hell." Heather demands, arms folded, legs crossed, fuming in the outhouse. "I saw that bookworm and brute being all buddy-buddy." She blows a loose stand of hair out of her face. "The only alliance on this island will be mine. One of them has to go."

**************************

The next 'morning', Cody sits up with the rest of his cabin mates at the sound of a blaring air horn. He hears one of the guys slam his head against the top of his bunk followed by an irritated whine in pain.

The guys hop out of bed and get dressed in various states of panic. Trent slowly trails along grabbing his things as Owen rushes from bag to bag entirely panicked on if he missed breakfast.

Cody rubs his eye and hops out of bed. He looks around for his things but sees Noah still passed out. He has a light bruise on his chin. Cody nearly cringes at the thought of Noah being stuck with Eva, but shakes it off.

He grabs the sleeping boy's shoulder and shakes him. "Hey, Noah, wake up. Something's going on."

Noah winces, but opens his eyes anyway. "Wha~?"

Cody blushes at the cuteness of Noah's softer, half asleep confusion, but snaps his focus back. Noah sits up, struggling a bit as he does. His blanket slides down to reveal more bruises on his chest and arms, which Cody blatantly gawks at.

"Did Eva do this?" He asks, alarmed.

"No," Noah responds sarcastically. "It was Duncan."

"Hey," Duncan cuts in, suddenly appearing in the doorway. "Don't blame me for shit I ain't done. I haven't touched the little nerd yet."

"And what a pity that is," Noah returns with an eyeroll.

"Aww, what? You want my hands on you?" Duncan questions with a flirtatious smirk.

"What can I say?" Noah deadpans. "I have an affection for mindless punks. You're like a tolerable Heather."

"Aww, you're sweet." Duncan grins, tossing a wink at the bookworm. Noah shakes his head, watching the criminal swagger back out.

Cody looks at Noah and the door entirely lost on what just happened.

"What were you doing in the Gopher cabin!?" Cody hears Courtney accuse.

"Flirting with Noah." Duncan responds, in a way that Cody just knows he's giving her his shit eating grin again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another time skip, and the sluggish campers find themselves sitting around the campfire trying not to completely pass out. Just twelve hours in, Cody feels perfectly fine, but some of his other teammates are noticeably close to passing out. Specifically Owen, Izzy, and Noah.

When Owen collapses only seconds later, he realizes he has to do something.

He walks over to talk to Leshawna, who still looks a bit peeved over the entire challenge. "Hey," she half looks at him with a weary lifted eyebrow. "Izzy and Noah seem like they're about to pass out."

"An' let me guess," she says, lowkey sass slipping out. "You want to go work your charms on the poor girl."

"Err, no." Cody answers, the jab hurting more than he'd let on. "I was thinking I could try and keep Noah awake. I was going to ask if you would keep an eye on her."

She looks at him at first with surprise, followed by skepticism, but nods. "Sure, I'll try and keep her up."

"Thanks," he says, waving goodbye. Leshawna raises an eyebrow again, but walks over to her new charge.

*****************************

"That white boy has hit on _every_ girl here," the sassy girl points out. "'Scuse me for thinking that boy was just look'n for someth'n easy."

*****************************

"I know I've come on really strong on everyone," Cody admits with a frown. "Maybe I should tone it down a bit."

***************************

"Hey, Noah," Cody says, shaking the exhausted bookworm's shoulder again. "You gotta stay awake."

Noah's droopy eyes flutter and look up at Cody and he smiles weakly, who blushes lightly at the sight. Something about sleepy Noah made Cody's heart flutter, and he liked it. His blush grew brighter when Noah laid his forehead on Cody's shoulder.

"Come on, Noah," Cody prompts, holding him upright. "We need you to stay awake."

"S'rry," Noah slurs, then smacks himself in the face. The jolt gives him a little bit of energy. "I'm entirely worn out from yesterday."

"Eva?"

"Yeah," the Indian nods. "She's not as bad as everyone thinks."

"She's abrasive and easily angered."

"And maybe she has a reason to be," Noah snaps, head bobbing sleepily again.

"You sure are quick to her defense," Cody teases. "Do you _liiike_ her?"

Noah scoffs. "Am I not allowed to defend someone I respect? Must protecting a friend immediately mean I have a 'thing' for her!?" The darker boy scowls, "I'm so sick of heteronormativity."

Cody chuckles despite the seriousness. "Even half asleep you use huge words!"

"Use them in my sleep too," Noah adds with a smirk, causing Cody to laugh harder.

Noah's head starts to drop down again, and Cody immediately shakes him again. "Oh no you don't!"

"So. Tired."

"C'mon," Cody insists, making Noah stand up and drags him to a tree to get him moving. "What do you like to do?"

"Reading and gaming mostly," Noah lists, "Gambling, some story-writing I guess." He shrugs.

"Skipping over the reading thing because I doubt I read anything as sophisticated as you," Cody jokes. Noah bites his lip to stop from smirking at the memory of him staying up until 3 am to finish a raunchy homoerotic slash fanfiction. "What kind of games do you play?"

"RPGs mostly, the usual like _Fallout_ , _Skyrim_ , and _Diablo_ ," he rubs his eye. They wander back to the group and sit back down onto their stumps. " _Fire Emblem_ and _Clash of Heroes_ are my favorite games though."

Cody lights up with excitement, "You play _Fire Emblem_!?"

"Huh? Yeah. You play too?"

"Yes! I love it. Who's your favorite character in _FE: Awakening_?"

"Personality wise it's Lon'qu. I'd marry him if I could with my guy avatar but I usually marry Panne instead." Noah shrugs, lulling his head to the side. "Strategy-wise I just use an army of personal characters and Chrom."

"You would marry Lon'qu?" Cody questions. "Isn't that kind of…." Instead of actually finishing his thought, he makes a bunch of nonsensical hand gestures and facial expressions, trying to relay his meaning without saying it.

"Gay?" Noah fills in bluntly.

"Yeah." Awkward silence. "Are you…?"

"Yeah." Noah's eyes droop closed, taking longer to open than before. "Is that a problem?"

"No! No!" Cody responds immediately, holding his hands up. "Not at all. Just didn't expect something like that."

"What-ever," Noah sighs, head slacking entirely. "It's not that big of a…--"

Noah collapses onto Cody and immediately passes out. Cody panics a bit, at first worried about Noah, then about having hit the hard ground himself. He tries to shake Noah awake, but the Indian boy remains entirely out cold. Sighing in defeat, he slides out from under him and returns to his stump.

Looking over, he sees Leshawna failed too.

**************************

"There's something up with Noah and Cody," Heather muses to herself. "I wonder if I can use that…." She shakes her head. "No. Other team first, then these losers."

******************************

"Bridgette was the first one to pass out, dude," Geoff comments, scratching his head. "I mean, I can't blame her though. I could _hear_ Courtney and Eva going at it through the wall." He hums, looking concerned. "I'm surprised Katie and Sadie are doing so well."

****************************

The camera plays, but all that's seen is Izzy sleeping in the confessional upside down. Her head hangs off the edge, her back on the seat, and her feet high up in the air.

****************************

Somewhere around the fifty hour mark, Cody got up to move around again and search for his teammates. A few of them had started shuffling around in their sleep and moved quite a ways away for comfier sleeping areas. In one of the nearby fields, Cody trips over something, landing onto his chest and face. He rolls around a bit, and ends up face to face with an unconscious Noah, too tired to even think about anything.

He passes out almost immediately, only registering two things beforehand; the announcement of his elimination, and a hand slipping around him to pull him closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, I own none of the rights to any of the games listed, their characters, nor the song "Who Knew" by P!nk.
> 
> Secondly, same as the first chapter's note, This is my first attempt at this and I would appreciate feedback!


	3. Sidelines

Subtle Deviations ch 3  
Sidelines

One week into the competition, Noah sits on the dock of shame, dipping his feet in the water as he watches the sunset and mopes. One of his favorite books lays by his side, neglected.

In one day, Noah felt everything came crashing down around him. It started with Cody avoiding him entirely ever since the cuddling incident. Normally he wouldn't mind a lack of attention, but being actively avoided by one of the friendliest campers took its toll. The smaller boy even moved all of his possessions to another bunk.

Piling on, this morning he learned Eva got tossed from the island. Hearing she harmed Chris before she left cheered him up, but left him overall devastated that he'd lost his first and only friend; almost immediately after making one.

He's a mess.

Noah looks over at the hardbound book, glaring maliciously at it. He grabs it, spinning around as he stands. Now in front of his face, the offending golden title shines clearly from its earthy cover: _Happily Ever After Collection_. He makes a disgusted face at it, but flicks it open anyway.

" _Once Upon a Time_ ," Noah recites in a mock, happy tone. " _A sacred treasure amassed only the shiniest valuables, the most beautiful in the land._ " He grabs the first few pages, and rips them from the book. " _Who everyone loves, because of course they do._ "

He continues strolling towards his cabin, continuing his story. " _Every year hunters gather at the entrance, each and every one seeking the gold for themselves._ " Again, he grabs a fistful of pages to rip from the book, tossing it aside. " _No one has ever succeeded._ "

" _Across from the lovely treasure's hiding spot sits the lone tower of the Dark Prince._ " Noah leans against a tree on the outskirts of the cabin grounds, scowling at the open book in his hands. " _The prince was never visited by anyone, so three dragons took up residence instead._

" _Every day, from his young teenage years when they first arrived, he's tormented by the twins, Malice and Sorrow. Malice riles him up, making him hate everything about himself while Sorrow reminds him there's nothing he can do about it. Alone with only his tormentors, he quickly fell to his Dark Prince status._ "

Noah tears out an entire chapter from the book and tosses it to the right. " _His only refuge came from the protection of the third dragon, Apathy. The reptile trained the boy to be cold and emotionless to protect himself from the terrors of the other two. The side affect, of course, prevents him from from making any friends; they view him as cold and cynical._ "

He starts walking, tossing individual pages randomly, growing more more frustrated with each section of his story. " _One day, on a whim, the prince left his tower, with the idea of seeking out the treasure himself. He felt just a little touch of joy knowing he could leave the twins behind for a short while, but Apathy came with him. As it always has, the dragon scared away the other travelers, leaving him to his isolation._

" _Only two travelers ever dared to walk near him, despite Apathy's chilly grip on the prince. The first, an easily aggravated warrior, walked with no fear of the beast; she almost welcomed its presence as an adversary. The second, a young bard with a bright smile and a good heart, who seemed to enjoy the company of the dragon and the prince as a whole._ " Noah finally reached his destination, a trail of pages behind him, three full chapters left in the nearly empty book. He stands above the elimination campfire, still in it's constant flaming state.

" _The first companion fell, just two days after their meeting._ " He rips out the third to last chapter, and drops it into the fire. " _Despite his loss, the prince started to feel an attraction to the bard. A hopeful affection he hasn't felt in years._ " Noah grips the next chapter's pages and rips through them before tossing them in the fire. " _But as he pulled closer, the bard fled. And once again, the prince was alone._ "

He grabs the last chapter, and throws it in the air. A few pages fall into the fire, while some decorate the sitting area. He walks towards his cabin as he finishes his story. " _Hope lost, the prince gives up. The twins were right. He would ride his protective guardian back to his tower, to await his bitter end._ "

At the steps of the cabin, he drops the hardbound cover, now void of all its pages. It hits the ground and flops open, revealing all the small ripped edges still bound to the spine. " _And he lived Miserably Ever After._ "

That said, he walks into the cabin, packs his things to leave, and crawls into bed.

Little did he know, his story had an audience.

*********************

Gwen looks back and fourth from her spot in the confessional, eyes still droopy from the challenge, before talking. "Okay, I heard Noah's entire rant, and I'm definitely concerned. I've never seen Noah so… expressive." She tilts her head to the side, "I think he's getting a bit…"

**********************

"The dude ripped up a book," Duncan summarizes in surprise, the left side of his monobrow halfway up his forehead. He sighs, mostly from exhaustion but continues, "Dude's impressive to rip up something he loves, but at the same time, dude's get'n…"

**********************

"Okay… Noah is SUCH a good storyteller." Izzy gushes, a wide smile on her face. "Like, I would totally love it if he would read me bedtime stories like that. And did he make that up the entire thing on the spot? That is totally…

**********************

Heather face-palms, red in outrage. "I get rid of Eva, and now NOAH is captain meltdown. Why are so many people on this island so freaking…"

*********************

"Who was that story about…?" Bridgette asks the camera, a look of concern on her face. "It sounded like it was suppose to be Noah, but if that's the case, who's the 'bard' who fled. Was it Trent?" Bridgette perks up in curiosity. "Does Noah like Trent?" She grabs her head, "Or is the lack of sleep making me come…"

*********************

The five campers all appear on screen together, Gwen in the upper left, Bridgette in the upper right, Duncan lower left, Heather lower right, and Izzy in the center. The outside four finish their sentences first, "…unhinged."

Izzy pipes in a second later, "…Awesome!!!"

******************

The camera returns to Gwen. "I'm too tired for this. I'll deal with it when I wake up. Next week." She groans, wandering out of the stall.

*********************

Duncan groans, dragging his hand down his face. "Fuck this." He holds up a black marker. "First I deal with Harold, then I'm going to bed."

**********************

"I didn't get most of his little outburst," Heather admits, "but if he's giving up, fine. I will happily vote him out. One less elimination to worry about."

********************

Bridgette sits in the confessional, still concerned. "I know he's on the other team, but it still worries me. It doesn't seem like he's okay, but--"

There's a pounding on the door. "Briiidgette!! Let me in!!" Izzy demands, continuing to knock on the door.

"Izzy!?" The door swings open and the ginger waltzes in. The blonde awkwardly scoots over, allowing Izzy to plop down in the space next to her. "What, uh, what are you doing?"

"Kay so I was in here earlier talking about the Noah thing, and when I left I totally saw you walking towards here," she blathers excitedly. "I wanted to know if you were talking about the Noah thing and you totally were!!!"

"Wait, you saw that too?" Bridgette questions, a light relief. "So I'm not crazy!"

"Nope!"

"But what should we do? He seems so upset!"

"Make the bard and the prince talk!!!" Izzy exclaims, using the obvious solution.

"Okay, but how do we get Trent and Noah to talk?"

"Trent?" Izzy asks, head tilted far past normal. "Noah likes Cody."

"No… He said it was a bard, and bards play music." Bridgette points out, "And Trent is the only one who regularly plays the guitar here."

"He also said he pulled closer to his crush and the crush left," Izzy reminds. "Cody literally ran screaming from Noah the other day."

The girls spend the next five minutes arguing back and fourth over which boy Noah fell for, before finally calling it a night. They decide they'll continue with the conversation after they've both had a good night's sleep to think on it.

*******************

Cody stirs from his light sleep, not having been sleeping well. He flips over and looks at Noah, a bubbling feeling building in his stomach. For now he's labeled it guilt. He felt bad about _the thing_ from the awake-a-thon, and he was sure that's what's caused the knots in his stomach.

Yeah, he had to apologize to Noah, but how?

With a groan, he rolls out of bed, jumps to the floor with a light thump, and throws on his clothes. He notices Noah's things packed up, and stares at it, trying to figure out what seemed different. The bookworm usually kept his things tidy and organized, though this looked more… packed.

Cody stares at the luggage in question before shrugging at it, concluding, I'm just overthinking this. He flips around and strolls put the door stretching his arms. At the final step of the staircase, he looses his footing and falls on his face.

After the necessary groan of pain and mortification from the fall, he climbs to his feet. A light flush of embarrassment on his cheeks, he looks around to make sure no one saw it. The first thing that catches his eye is the rising sun; he's up at dawn. The revelation makes him shake his head in disgust, but nevertheless he's awake and trying to sleep will get him nowhere.

The second oddity, the thing he tripped on, lays on the ground just peeking out of the first step. Cody crouches, grabbing the corner of whatever it is and pulls it out. He starts to examine it, but gets distracted by the simple joy of making it fold inward. He snaps out of his child-like stupidity, realizing it folds like a binder-folder or a book.

A light glimmer peeks out from the dirt on one side of the book, so Cody brushes it off with his hand. Despite having been in the dirt, the title of the book, Happily Ever After Collection, shines in its nearly perfect gold. A closer examination reveals all of the pages have been torn out, but the table of contents is neatly glittering on the inside of the cover… with his shoe print over part of it.

Instinctively, Cody looks around and spots a few random pages scattered by a distant tree closer to the dock than the camp. A light gust pushes a few papers off the ground, making them dance in a small spiral. He rushes towards the fluttering pages, grabbing as many as he can to jam into the tattered book.

From the tree, he sees two trails of torn pages, and hesitates. He chooses the trail towards the dock, scooping up papers and shoving them messily into the closed bindings. At the dock itself, he fishes out a few damp pages, laying them out on the wood. He puts a rock on each page, keeping them in place, before darting back to the tree and after the second trail.

The second trail leads him to the ever blazing campfire, near and around the pit. Alarm bells go off in his head when he realizes some of the pages are on fire. He starts throwing sand at the flaming pages, nabbing what he can without burning himself. He considers dousing the entire fire, but he's never seen it out- he can't be the one that kills it first.

When he's scooped up what he can, shamelessly jammed into the bindings, he takes a breath and walks back to the dock. _Maybe I can put it back together?_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bitter and irritated, Noah drags himself into the dining area. His hair sticks up in every direction, not that he cares in the slightest. He takes three steps inside, pointedly ignoring everyone, when Izzy pounces on him. She knocks him out of the building onto his back and she positions herself to remain sitting on him.

"Get. Off. Of. Me." Noah demands.

Instead, Izzy looks up and screams, "BRIIIIIDDDGGGEEETTTTT!!!!" Afterwords, she makes random squawking noises, not unlike a bird in pain.

The called blonde staggers out, massaging her eardrum with a finger. "You don't have to shout, Izzy." She looks over to the pinned boy, smiling sympathetically at him. He just glares at her. "Chris will be here soon, but we need to talk to you. Dock of shame, after breakfast. Okay?"

Without waiting for a response, Bridgett nods her head towards the door and Izzy climbs off obediently. Both girls re-enter the building, leaving a sulking Noah.

***********

"I am," Noah groans, "Entirely uninterested."

***********

"If he doesn't show, I'm sicking Lizzy on him," the blonde surfer threatens idly. She shrugs.

***********

Despite his disinterest, Noah drags himself to the dock anyway. Bridgett appears a minute later, smiling at him.

"Where's your pet?" Noah jabs.

Bridgett frowns, but lets it slide. "I wanted to actually talk." Her smile returns. "I don't think she would have been helpful."

Noah grins, trying to look away so she can't see it. "What did you want?"

"Walk with me?" She asks, gesturing towards the next challenge location. He shrugs, taking the lead but strolls so they can still chat. "I suppose I should start with the elephant in the room. Your sexuality?"

"Demi." He answers instantly. Bridgett just nods thoughtfully.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

Noah raises an eyebrow. "You actually know what it means? Most of the time it's just easier to say I'm gay."

The blonde snorts, "I know all about that. Tell them you're pan and they crack a joke. Tell 'em you're bi and they're all understanding."

"Pan, huh?" Noah smiles. A real smile he doesn't bother hiding. "That seems pretty obvious in retrospect too."

"I think now comes the 'We're not so different, you and I…' speech."

"Socialite surfer girl who can, and probably does, love everyone isn't so different from the awkward Indian nerd?"

"We're not what people expect."

Noah snorts, "How am I not what people expect?"

"There's something about you…" Bridgett explains, mostly to herself. "You have this way that draws in other shelled people. You let them take their walls down."

Noah stops walking, looks long away downcast. "You're talking about Eva."

Bridgett, who'd walked a little farther not knowing he stopped flips around. "I am." She walks back and lifts his chin to face her. "Even I thought she was beyond reason, yet somehow you two became really close."

The bookworm brushes off the blinds hand. "Until she got booted from the island."

"If she'd been part of your team, things may have been different." Bridgett points out. "She didn't have any friends on ours though, everyone feared. Her." She pauses, but decides to add, "Even then, I didn't vote for her."

Noah looks at the ground glumly, ignoring her soft, concerned smile. Before either can say another word though, they've reached the large glass field on the beach. Noah rolled his eyes at the widely impractical field, muttering something about budgets. Regardless, he holds the door open for Bridgett, who placed a hand on his shoulder one last time before heading in for the challenge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Who knows how long into the game, Cody bounces in his seat, ready for another shot on the field. Gophers are kicking butt, taking the game 2-0, and the energy becomes infectious. Mostly infectious, at least.

Sitting dead center in the stands, Noah calmly reads one of his smaller books. When prompted to show any interest in the game, all they get is a quick jab or a snotty retort. Mostly annoyed, Cody begins to feel there's something else going on- his twitchy anxious side unhelpfully telling him it's his fault.

Between his feet, the book he'd rescued that morning sits closed. The pages remain damaged and ruffled, some water soaked while others are singed, but bound in order once more. Some of the campers curiously watched him piece it back together during breakfast, some offered help in organizing, and Leshawna rebound the book for him. She only agreed because this little distraction kept him from hitting on people, something she FULLY endorsed.

Still trying to decide the right time to hand it back over, a dark energy rises over the field. Instinctively looking over, he sees a now woken, _clearly_ peeved, Duncan arguing with Courtney, before taking the field with four of his teammates. In a matter of minutes, Duncan's eliminated his entire team with his brutal strategy: Rush the New Guy.

If anyone asked, Cody recognized it from prison shows- not kinky prison slash fiction.

"Come on, team," Noah intersects after the round. "A little effort out there."

Everyone glares.

*************

"If Noah says ONE more thing," Heather fumes, "I'll kill him."

*************

With an obligatory dazzling smile, Justin tries to keep from frowning on camera. "His negative energy affects my completion. He needs to go."

**************

"I'm not thhaying I hope it happenth," Beth adds, teetering her hands, "but if we loose, it'th probably Noah going home. And I can live with that." She pauses, taking a minute to freak out, "Was that a mean thing to thay??"

**************

Somewhere between the third and fourth games, Heather storms off ranting about ditzy blondes and how " _she's sooo off the alliance!_ " or something. Cody couldn't really care less. Instead, he grabs Noah and drags him out of the court. He brought the book, tucked away safely, forgotten about in his rage.

A safe distance away from the glass box, Cody lets loose. "What the hell is up with you today? Moody much?"

"And when did we become friends again?" Noah snarks bitterly. "I thought you were avoiding me."

Cody falters. Blunt and to the point. "If you're mad at me for the other night, I'm sorry! But that doesn't excuse you acting so coldly."

"Well I'm sorry I lost any and all friends in one event," the Indian boy responds sarcastically. His own feelings drip into his words. "I may as well go next!"

"So what, you're just giving up? Just like that?"

"Why shouldn't I? It's not like anyone here wants to be my friend!"

"Not if you keep alienating yourself!" Cody practically screams it. He takes a breath and pulls out his secret weapon. He holds up the book; Noah glares at it. "I… I want to be your friend. I'm sorry I freaked out about… _that_ … the other night. Can we start over?"

Noah takes the book but doesn't respond. He pushes past the smaller boy, returning to the dodgeball field and to his book in the bleachers. Cody sighs at his failure, but returns to his place as well. Seconds later, Heather storms in with Lizzy and Tyler in tow, still looking peeved.

~~~~~~~~~~

The last round rages on for a while, unexplainably allowing players to trade in and out. In all likeliness, Chris meant this to be some way for Noah to play at some point or another, but the bookworm remains obstinately on the bench, tuning out the game. The others glare maliciously at him when they have the chance.

Internally though, Noah can't focus. Even though his book remains open, his mind wanders. So what, you're just giving up? Just like that? The words echo around in his head, tormenting him. After a few minutes, it stops being Cody who says it and the voice becomes Eva's.

Just like that, there's a small fire being lit underneath him. Eva would be pissed if he just gave up like that. He started thinking more from there, how Bridgett seemed like she wanted to be friends, a small spark of hope there. Cody? Perhaps it it's not entirely too late.

Noah observes the field one last time. All that remains are Owen and Howard, Owen possessing all the balls. We'll win this, he reasons, I can make it up to them later.

When Owen lets loose, so does Howard. A room of gaping teens, Noah goes as far as to drop his ignored book in shock. Calculations start running through his mind, fear of him getting his original wish gripping at him.

Between fear, desperation, and anger, he decides on a plan. A way to assure victory, even if it is underhanded.

Howard takes the field again, ready to catch the ball; his only viable option. As soon as Owen lets go of the ball, Noah attacks.

He starts laughing. A bright, cheerful laugh like he's being tickled before squeaking out "Leshawna, stop!!"

All eyes jut over to the quiet bookworm, who stops laughing. He cracks a grin to no one in particular. Leshawna, who's sitting on the other side of the bench, lifts an eyebrow and leans away uncomfortably. He lifts his finger and points to the field.

At the name of his love, Howard lost focus and looked away. His guard dropped when there was nothing happening, and the ball hits him in the face. The ginger nerd topples, and The Gophers claim their third victory in a row.

The only one cheering is Heather.

"Woo!! You bass need some serious help!!" She jeers, having a party of one.

Chris cracks a grin himself. "Gophers win the Dodgebrawl challenges!" He chuckles. "Bass, be seeing you again soon."

The bass trudge out of the room, and Noah speeds up to keep his team from leaving.

Uncomfortably, Noah starts, "I owe all of you an apo-"

"Don't." Heather interrupts. "You sat on your ass the entire game, bitching about this and that. Then, last minute, you use an underhanded tactic to win." She tilts her head up to look down her nose at him but smiles proudly. "I'm impressed. Keep it up and I may keep you around."

She struts out, followed by her minions. Noah turns to the remaining teens, and asks. "Can I apologize to the rest of you?"

Justin follows the triad out, but the others remain. Leshawna becomes their spokesperson. "Say your piece."

"I'm sorry for the way I've acted today. I've been taking out my frustrations on all of you in an attempt to get myself sent home next," he explains. "It's not fair to you, and I'm sorry."

"You _wanted_ to go home?" Trent asks.

"Between a lack of medication and thinking I'd lost both the friends I had? Yes."

"Meds?" Cody asks, his natural curiosity getting the better of him.

"I take drugs to mellow my emotions. Since Chris hasn't given me any of my pills, I've been slowly getting all of my feelings back." Noah flushes at revealing that, but doesn't back down.

"Well that explains a lot," Leshawna hums, starting to support Gwen. "But that doesn't mean we forgive you yet."

"I do!" Owen interjects, hugging Noah tightly.

The dark girl coughs. " _Some_ of us don't forgive you yet. You're not going home this week though, so settle for that."

Noah nods. The Gophers take their leave.

That night, Courtney pushes for people to vote off Tyler, while Duncan says Howard. At the end of the night, Howard is sent off on the boat of losers, woebegotton on how his passions lead to his downfall.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first attempt at a fanfiction ever, and it was kinda fun. Definitely plan to continue and would love feedback.


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